About the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change

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At the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, we work with political leaders around the world to drive change. We help governments turn bold ideas into reality so they can deliver for their people. We do it by advising on strategy, policy and delivery, unlocking the power of technology across all three. And by sharing what we learn on the ground, so everyone can benefit. We do it to build more open, inclusive and prosperous countries for people everywhere.

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Role Summary

The Tony Blair Institute, in partnership with the Rwanda Development Board (RDB), is seeking an experienced Short-Term Consultant – Hospitality Service Quality & Regulation to support Rwanda’s ambition to deliver a consistently high-quality visitor experience that matches its positioning as a premium tourism destination.

Working closely with RDB’s Tourism Office and hospitality regulation and inspection teams, the Consultant will help RDB strengthen how hospitality service quality is defined, inspected, and enforced, so that standards are clear to operators, applied consistently by inspectors, and credible to both the industry and visitors.

This is a deliverables-based assignment of up to 50 billable days over approximately four months. The Consultant will produce a defined package: a rapid diagnostic, a tiered service quality standards framework, practical inspection and compliance tools, an inspection operations guide, and a short-term enforcement improvement roadmap. Each deliverable will be handed over to named RDB counterparts through a working session and a pilot, so that RDB can use the tools independently once the assignment ends.

We are looking for a hospitality quality professional: someone who has run or audited hotel operations, managed quality assurance or brand standards, or worked within a tourism grading, classification, or licensing body, and who can translate that hands-on knowledge into practical systems that a public regulator can own and run.

The Consultant will report to TBI’s Senior Manager – Country Program & Delivery and will coordinate with a parallel TBI consultancy on tourism product development and investment facilitation.

Location: Kigali, Rwanda, with in-person presence required for interviews, inspections, the validation workshop, the pilot, and handover; other work may be completed remotely

Scope of Work & Deliverables

1. Inception Note & Workplan

• Agree scope, methodology, stakeholder list, and timeline with TBI and RDB, and identify the RDB counterpart who will own each deliverable after handover
• Collect and review existing standards, classification criteria, inspection records, and relevant legal and regulatory instruments

2. Rapid Diagnostic & Benchmarking

• Assess current hospitality licensing, classification, inspection, and enforcement practices through document review, stakeholder interviews, and observation of a sample of inspections
• Identify key gaps, bottlenecks, and root causes, including institutional capacity and industry readiness constraints
• Benchmark Rwanda’s approach against the EAC common classification criteria and two to three comparator national grading schemes
• Output: a concise diagnostic report with prioritized recommendations for RDB leadership

3. Tiered Service Quality Standards Framework

• Design a tiered hospitality service quality standards framework covering facilities, service delivery, staff conduct, and guest experience, building on the EAC criteria where appropriate
• Define clear, measurable, and objectively verifiable criteria and a scoring approach for each tier
• Facilitate one validation workshop with industry associations, operators, and government counterparts, and finalize the framework

4. Inspection & Compliance Tools

• Develop standardized inspection checklists, scoring sheets, and reporting templates that serve as an objective benchmark for inspectors
• Develop an operator self-assessment checklist and short guidance note setting out what is required at each tier

5. Inspection Operations Guide

• Develop a practical guide setting out how inspections should be planned, risk-prioritized, conducted, scored, documented, escalated, and followed up
• Include standard templates and escalation protocols for corrective action and follow-up

6. Short-Term Enforcement Improvement Roadmap

• Identify quick wins and set out a prioritized 12-month roadmap to strengthen inspection consistency and enforcement credibility
• Include recommendations on a proportionate approach to corrective actions and sanctions, operator transition and outreach, complaints follow-up, and inspection data management

7. Pilot, Handover & Final Report

• Pilot the inspection tools with RDB inspectors on three to five establishments and refine them based on the results
• Hold a handover, knowledge transfer session with named RDB counterparts on each deliverable and submit a short final report.

Candidate Profile

• 10+ years of relevant experience, including substantial hands-on experience in hospitality operations, quality assurance, brand standards, hotel classification or grading, or tourism licensing and regulation
• Direct experience designing, applying, or auditing hospitality quality standards, classification criteria, or inspection and audit methodologies, whether for a tourism authority, grading body, hotel group, or quality assurance firm
• Strong working knowledge of international hospitality quality and classification practice (for example, the EAC common classification criteria, national grading schemes, ISO 22483, or hotel brand standards systems); a recognized quality or audit certification (such as ISO 9001 Lead Auditor) is an advantage
• A track record of producing practical tools, operating procedures, and guidance that others have adopted and used
• Experience working with or within government, a regulator, or a public agency; experience in Africa, or comparable emerging premium tourism destinations, is highly advantageous
• Excellent writing, facilitation, and communication skills, with the credibility to engage both hotel general managers and senior government officials
• No ownership of, or employment with, a hospitality establishment operating in Rwanda, to avoid any conflict of interest

Capabilities and Ways of Working

Agility & Comfort with Ambiguity

• Brings structure and clarity in complex, fast-moving environments
• Works independently with minimal supervision and manages own time against agreed deliverables
• Adapts quickly to shifting priorities while keeping to the agreed scope and timeline

Builds & Broadens

• Builds strong working relationships quickly across government, industry associations, and operators
• Shares knowledge so that counterparts can use the tools independently
• Brings insight into hospitality quality standards and regulatory practice from other markets

Collaboration, Integrity & Trust

• Builds credibility with senior stakeholders and industry, and operates with sound judgement and impartiality
• Navigates complex stakeholder environments with professionalism and discretion
• Communicates clearly and influences effectively across levels

Drive & Delivery

• Maintains a strong focus on tangible outcomes and results
• Delivers high-quality outputs on time and within the agreed level of effort
• Demonstrates persistence in overcoming barriers and moving outputs through to approval

What Success Looks Like

• Clear diagnosis and priorities agreed: RDB leadership has endorsed the diagnostic and its prioritized recommendations
• Standards framework ready for adoption: A validated tiered service quality standards framework with objective criteria has been submitted to RDB for adoption
• Inspection practice ready to be more consistent: Inspection tools, an operator self-assessment checklist, and an inspection operations guide have been piloted, refined, and handed over to RDB
• Enforcement roadmap agreed: RDB has agreed a short-term enforcement improvement roadmap with clear quick wins and owners
• Clear ownership after the assignment: Named RDB counterparts own each deliverable and are equipped to use the tools independently

• Agree scope, methodology, stakeholder list, and timeline with TBI and RDB, and identify the RDB counterpart who will own each deliverable after handover.
• Collect and review existing standards, classification criteria, inspection records, and relevant legal and regulatory instruments.
• Assess current hospitality licensing, classification, inspection, and enforcement practices through document review, stakeholder interviews, and observation of a sample of inspections.
• Identify key gaps, bottlenecks, and root causes, including institutional capacity and industry readiness constraints, and benchmark Rwanda’s approach against EAC common classification criteria and comparator national grading schemes.
• Design and finalize a tiered hospitality service quality standards framework with clear, measurable, and objectively verifiable criteria and a scoring approach for each tier.
• Develop standardized inspection checklists, scoring sheets, reporting templates, an operator self-assessment checklist, and guidance note.
• Develop a practical inspection operations guide, including standard templates and escalation protocols for corrective action and follow-up.
• Prepare a prioritized 12-month enforcement improvement roadmap with quick wins.
• Pilot the inspection tools with RDB inspectors on three to five establishments, refine them, and conduct handover and knowledge transfer with named RDB counterparts.

• Hospitality operations and service quality expertise
• Hospitality quality standards, classification, grading, and inspection methodology
• Knowledge of EAC common classification criteria, national grading schemes, ISO 22483, or hotel brand standards systems
• Diagnostic research, document review, stakeholder interviews, and benchmarking
• Development of practical tools, operating procedures, inspection guides, and compliance frameworks
• Writing, facilitation, and communication
• Stakeholder engagement and relationship-building across government and hospitality industry
• Independent work, time management, adaptability, and delivery against agreed timelines
• Sound judgement, impartiality, professionalism, and discretion

• 10+ years of relevant experience in hospitality operations, quality assurance, brand standards, hotel classification or grading, or tourism licensing and regulation.
• Direct experience designing, applying, or auditing hospitality quality standards, classification criteria, or inspection and audit methodologies.
• Strong working knowledge of international hospitality quality and classification practice.
• A track record of producing practical tools, operating procedures, and guidance that others have adopted and used.
• Experience working with or within government, a regulator, or a public agency; experience in Africa or comparable emerging premium tourism destinations is highly advantageous.
• A recognized quality or audit certification, such as ISO 9001 Lead Auditor, is an advantage.
• No ownership of, or employment with, a hospitality establishment operating in Rwanda, to avoid any conflict of interest.